Breakfast In Bed

The Second Ireland Game

It was a beautiful day for a game in sunny San Diego. The weather was sunny and a warm 72 degrees. There wasn't a cloud in sight and the breeze was just enough to keep the fans in the stands cool. Currently, Becky and Alyssa were standing at the top of the left 18-yard box in Qualcomm Stadium, doing their ritualist pregame walk of the field before warm ups began.
"Be careful on this today. I don't like the look of this turf." Alyssa noted the black beady substance underneath the fake grass.

"I always am. I don't need any torn ligaments, thank you." Becky squeezed the goalkeeper's hand. "You just be ready to kiss my turn burn better."

"I will be." Alyssa leaned down and gave Becky a short kiss before turning her observations back to the field. Even though she doubted she would be playing, she still liked to get in the mindset. After all, you never know what might happen.

The pair finished their walk and headed back into the tunnel. A few fans already pilfering in to find their seats. The locker room was upbeat and Crystal was busting out her famous dance moves. Julie was attempting to mimic them. The result was laughter all around. The team felt good today. Formation issues aside, they had held their own against Ireland the first game and today should be no different.

Becky and Alyssa went to their lockers and slowly changed into their warm ups. Becky joined Sonnet on the floor with her foam roller to work out some tight spots. What she wouldn't give for a rest, just a game. Not that it was going to happen any time soon. Alyssa was content to go hang with A-rod and chat while she put braids in the team's hair. When Becky had finished rolling out, she grabbed the tape from Alyssa's locker and went to help her goalkeeper tape up her hands for warmups. Across the locker room, Ali was doing the same with Ashlyn. Both keepers' hands were taped up and kissed before they grabbed their gloves and headed out with Graeme.

On the pitch, Alyssa made sure to encourage Ash when she could. Ash had done the same for her and it had helped calm her nerves. She was hoping to do the same for the blonde. Ash seemed to like it so Alyssa kept it up. 10 minutes or so later, the field players joined the keepers for warm-ups. They worked through their usual drills and stretches, chatting amongst themselves. The team had been through this hundreds of times. They could drone out the fans and opponents and focus on getting ready for the game. They were clicking today. Passes were flowing, shots were flying past goalkeepers and yet they made some tight saves. This game would be different from the start.

Alyssa and Ashlyn headed into the tunnel together, talking tactics on how to not be surprised by Ireland's long throw ins. They presented a unique danger in the box. Becky looked at Ali and shook her head.

"Keepers. Why do they always seem to be forgetting about us?" Ali laughed and shook her head along with Becky.

"Who knows. You think we would be used to it by now." The pair headed into the tunnel.

"True. True. So that means whenever Jill calls up a baby keeper and she dates someone on this team or her club team, we have to warn her this is completely normal."

"Yup. It's only fair. No reason for them to freak out like we did." The pair's laughter echoed in the tunnel. Andi spun around to see what had her mom laughing. That only made the pair laugh harder at her confused expression.

"Parents. Weird." She muttered.

"Yup." Mal and Sonnett and agreed.

Once in the locker room clothing was stripped and uniforms tugged on. Alyssa was unsurprised to see the penny in her locker. Jill had told them they would still be rotating games. And Alyssa didn't blame her. As much as she wanted playing time, there was no reason for her to play every game. Otherwise the team could end up in a similar situation they had with Hope. One keeper with a lot of caps, and a sprinkling divided among the rest. It just wasn't smart. She pulled it on and tucked her gloves into the back of shorts. It would be nice to watch this game. The goalkeeper didn't complain when she got to watch Becky play live and not against her club team. Becky wished there was a penny in her jersey. Alas, there was not. So, she pulled on the white jersey and mentally prepped herself to go another 90 minutes as an outside back in a three-back formation.